Filtration Question

[johnnyjohnson]

hello.
i was wondering if there is some standard to judge whether or not i am moving enough water in my tank. Currently i have two of the emperor 400 and a Aquaclear 300. Combined this equates to 1100 GPH, tank is a 120 gallons with two oscars and three pictus cats, they are all still small fish for now but want to make sure i will be well filtered as theyy grow. any input would be appreciated.

thanks

edit; forgot to mention, i also have a 160 GPH power head. provides little if any filtration, i have a small sponge over the intake so this only removes large debris.

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Johnny,

What you have sounds fine. You have a total of 1260 GPH, in a tank of 120 G, giving a turnover of 10.5 times per hour.

It is commonly acknowledged that the minimum flow you should attain is around 5 times per hour, so even with Oscars and Pictus cats which will turn into big messy fish (requiring more than average filtration), your flow rate is sufficient.

Which of the filters are being used for filtration and which are purely for water movement? I ask because water flow and filtration capacity are different and shouldn't be confused.

We have established that your flow rate is adequate, but how much filtration capacity do you have?

BTT